Here's the draft, from bottom left to top right:
I had done a number of practice drafts on tappedout, but none of them prepared me for the difficult Pack 1 that I opened. No removal, no bomb rare or uncommon creatures, but good filler creatures for a number of different decks (including 2x Binding Mummy, one foil). I didn't really know what to do so I grabbed New Perspectives without really having any plan for it other than lucking into a cycling reward like Drake Haven. The next few picks gave me good cards to push into red-green, so I abandoned the blue idea pretty quickly.
I was still open to switching colors in Pack 2, but the Scaled Behemoth was the big monster I wanted for RG. Harsh Mentor was probably not the best card in the next pack, but it was a playable money pick and a signal, and that was good enough for me. After that, I was able to pick up a lot of red and green, but most of it was just borderline rather than excellent. The Forest I took at 10th pick was a full-art in a pack with nothing I could use.
Pack 3 gave me some very good cards for my deck for the first several picks and then fizzled out on the wheel. My guess is that a couple other people were also drafting my colors, and there just wasn't enough good stuff to go around. One note -- Evolving Wilds (good) in this set looks a lot like some of the deserts (nearly unplayable), so be careful not to overlook it when you see it.
I don't remember exactly what the rares were in Packs 2 and 3, but I think they were both fairy unplayable. Maybe Dispossess and Harvest Season? In any case, I was disappointed that my most exciting cards were 6-drop creatures.
Here is the deck I built:
My deck has a pretty good "normal" curve, although I am seeing from Pro Tour coverage that a lot of people are building very low-curve decks for this Draft format (even high-picking cards like Nef-Crop Entangler, which I was not particularly excited about in the second half of Pack 1). My most glaring weakness is that my removal is relatively small, so once a big creature comes down, I am mostly relying on combat tricks to have any chance of killing it.
Here is my sideboard and cards that almost made main deck:
Giant Spider was ready to come in if I faced any difficult fliers. Dissenter's Deliverance was for strong artifacts (I forgot that Violent Impact also kills artifacts, or it would have been included too). It's possible that I should have had Gift of Paradise in main deck to help ramp up to the big creatures. I don't know what would have made me play Consuming Fervor, maybe a matchup against a slow controlly deck with a strong late game. It is a combo with Exemplar of Strength, but it really needs him to get all his counters off first, at which point you're probably winning anyway. Hyena Pack looks solid, but as often happens in Draft, there are so many better 4-drops running around that the solid commons don't make the cut. I had 3 copies and played zero.
How did the games go?
Round 1 vs. P.
P was playing Jund (black-red-green), and he had some big bombs in Glorybringer (which I never saw) and Archfiend of Ifnir. Game 1 was my dream game, and it probably set up unrealistic expectations for the rest of the night. I put down Rhonas's Monument on Turn 3, then after being stuck on Forests on Turn 5, I played Scaled Behemoth on Turn 6, pumping something else, and then another Scaled Behemoth on Turn 7, pumping the first Behemoth. Easy win. Game 2 P got Archfiend out, and I had a chance to kill it with Cartouche of Strength, but I thought I would be able to race it. Then next turn he put Cartouche of Ambition (which adds lifelink) on it and made it impossible to race. I tried to use Magma Spray plus Cartouche to kill it, but he blew me out with Hapatra's Mark (hexproof) and I lost. Game 3 we ran out of time and ended up in turns, and I had a very good series of plays that managed to win exactly on Turn 5, most notably adding Spidery Grasp to a full-size Defiant Greatmaw with Khenra Charioteer in play to run over a big blocker and ruin his board. Win, 2-1.
Round 2 vs. T1.
T was in white-black zombies. His big threat was Glory-Bound Initiate, and in Game 1 it broke the game in his favor after a pretty equal start. In Game 2, he had a slow draw and I had my good attackers, and I won easily. In Game 3, we played even for a bit, then he got the Initiate out again and blew up combat with In Oketra's Name (he shook his head, realizing he could have cast a second one to win that turn, but it didn't matter because there was no path back for me). Loss, 1-2.
Round 3 vs. T2.
T had a red-green deck of his own, but with some very different things. First off, he got an Edifice of Authority, which is pretty miserable to play against. I hadn't realized when I first read it, but it can actually keep a creature from attacking or blocking for an entire turn cycle, not just until end of turn. In Game 1, I didn't draw any forests, and I put up a good fight but eventually folded to his better board and Edifice. I sideboarded in Dissenter's Deliverance. Game 2 I had to mulligan to 6 on the play, but it actually worked out really well and I ran him over with Defiant Greatmaw and friends. I saw Hazoret the Fervent this game, but my Harsh Mentor actually prevented her from being able to use her ability. Game 3 was the most competitive of the match, but he put out Edifice again and locked down my Exemplar of Strength. Then he played Oketra's Monument (off color but still great for the secondary effect) and started building an army, captained by Hazoret for the win. Loss, 1-2.
For Round 4 I was the lowest player still in, and I drew a bye, so that was the end of my night.
As far as draft winnings, it was pretty sparse. New Perspectives and Harsh Mentor are both a few dollars, although New Perspectives might just be a passing fad and Harsh Mentor has been dropping steadily. Gideon's Intervention is interesting but not valuable.
I finished 1-2 in matches and 4-5 in games, which really isn't too bad. I had a couple of mulligans, bad draws, and misplays, so I do think this deck could be competitive in this environment. I also never drew Bloodlust Inciter on Turn 1 (I think I only had him once all night), and giving everything haste would have made this deck much scarier.
My most obvious misplay was in Game 3 of Match 3, when I forgot to play my Pouncing Cheetah on opponent's turn after holding up mana for it.
From the draft itself, I learned a bit about card quality in this format. Pouncing Cheetah was ok as another removal spell in a removal-light deck, but I am going to avoid cards like Hyena Pack in the future unless I'm desperate for a 4-drop. I would never first-pick New Perspectives again.
I'm pretty sure I was in the wrong colors and missed signals, but the average-quality red-green stuff I was receiving was enough to make me feel like I was doing ok. I never saw any real bomb rares or high end uncommons that I could splash in. I had shots at an Oketra's Attendant and an Aven Wind Guide that were so far off-color I didn't even consider them.
Defiant Greatmaw felt like a great creature, even though it had to sacrifice another creature to be 4/5. Hooded Brawler is great to play on curve also. The Scaled Behemoth just crushes games when you're even or ahead later in the game, but it feels bad in your hand when you're dying with 5 mana. Khenra Charioteer was a nice fit with the big creatures, and the trample granted by it or Rhonas's Monument definitely helped in some of my wins. Trueheart Twins seemed weak, but in slightly different circumstances (like if I had Bloodlust Inciter or one of my other exert creatures out) they might have been really strong.
Anyway, it was a good learning experience and I'd love to hear any thoughts about what I could have done better with this card pool.
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